Thirds to ebenezer b



(No Model.)

F. M. GARLAND. AMMUNITION BELT.

No. 479,798. Patented Aug. 2, 1892.

UNiTE STATEs FFICE,

FRANK. M. GARLAND, OF NEYV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF TIWVO- THIRDSTO EBENEZER B. BEECHER, IVILLIAM A. FOSKETT, AND FRED" ERICK P. NEIVTON,OF SAME PLACE, AND THOMAS II. SHERMAN, OF IVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA.

AMMUNITION-BELT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,798, dated August2, 1892.

Application filed September 19 1891. Serial No. 406,257- (No model.)

To whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK. M. GARLAND, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Haven,in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAmmunition-Belts, of which the followlng is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

This invention relates to the class of belts to used in connection withmachine-guns for feeding cartridges to the loading mechanism.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and cheap belt ofthis class having a body so flexible that with the cartridges it can befolded into a box and fed directly therefrom into the gun, the flexiblebody of the belt having cups with strong grasping-arms, which so firmlyhold the cartridges that they cannot be shaken out, but from which theycan readily be removed without the use of complicated mechanism in thegun or destroying the belt, so that it may be again used.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of thebelt holding a 2 5 few cartridges. Fig. 2 is a side view illustratingthe manner in which the belt and cartridges are drawn into the gun. Fig.3 is an enlarged plan of the blank from which the cartridge-cups areformed. Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section of the belt and one ofthe cups.

In the views 1 indicates the body of the belt, which is made of paper,cloth, webbing, leather, or the like material having sufficient tensilestrength to lift the cartridges, which is cheap, thin, and quiteflexible, so that it will readily unfold from the box into which, withthe cartridges, it has been packed and. feed into the gun. To one faceof the body 0 are secured cups 2 for holding the cartridges, while theends are provided with loops and hooks for engaging other belts, so thatseveral belts may be fed continuously. These cups are preferably cut orstamped to shape 5 from sheet metal, as brass, in the form of the blankshown in Fig. 3, having a body to form the grasping-arms 3, andprojecting wings at on either side to form bearings for the legs of anycommon cartridge removing comb or picker 5, as well as clips forsecuring the cups in place along the belt. The grasping-arms of the cupsare shaped to firmly grasp and hold the cartridges, so that they cannotbe shaken therefrom, and the ends of the wings may be bent downward,passed through perforations in the body of the belt, and clinched on theunder side, so as to hold the cups securely to the flexible body of thebelt.

In the plan View, Fig. 1, one form of comb or picker is shown in fulllines to illustrate the use, object, and advantages of the invention,although the picker is in no way connected with the belt, nor is it apart of the invention. This comb is secured to the frame on the interiorof the machine-gun in which the belt is to be used near the path of thebelt by any common means in any well-known manner.

It is essential that the belts be very flexible,

and it is also necessary that the cartridges be grasped firmly by thecups, so that they cannot be shaken out by any jar during action.Consequently considerable pull is required, to remove the cartridgesfrom the cups. As the belt, with the cartridges, is drawn into the gunby a feed-wheel 6, the cartridges are removed from the tightly-holdinggrasping-arms by a comb 5, which straddles the belts and strips it fromthe cartridges as they pass up with the feed-wheel, the ends of the combresting upon wings on either side as the cartridges are removed, so thatthe cups are not stripped from the belt at the same time.

By means of this construction a cheap, light, and very flexible body orweb may be used, which, with the cartridges in the cups, will closelypack into boxes, and from which it can be readily drawn and fed into thegun. The cups are securely held to this flexible body and firmly holdthe cartridges without danger go of their being shaken out when the gunis in use. The cartridges can be readily and easily removed from thebelt without any complicated withdrawing mechanism and without danger ofstripping the cups from the belt with the cartridges and clogging theloading mechanism of the gun. The belts may be made of such cheapmaterial that they can be discarded after use or may be reused, ifdesired, as they are not damaged, and the cups can be quickly refilledwith cartridges.

I claim as my invention 1. An ammunition-belt consisting of a flexibleweb bearing upon one face a number of cups for firmly grasping thecartridges, open on one side, so that the cartridges may be removedtherefrom laterally, and provided with projecting Wings on the edges toafford a bearing for the cartridge-removing device, substantially asspecified.

2. An ammunition-belt consisting of a flexible Web bearing upon one facea number of cups for firmly grasping the cartridges, open on one side,so that the cartridges may be removed therefrom laterally, and providedwith projecting Wings on the edges to afford a bearing for thecartridge-removing device, the ends of said wings passing through theweb and clinched on the opposite face, substantially as specified.

FRANK. M. GARLAND.

WVitnesses:

J. P. WRIGHT, H. R. VVILLIAMs.

